Chuck vs The Sasquatch
by Extreme Stratusfaction
Summary: Sarah surprises Chuck with a trip to the Sasquatch Music Festival.


_Oh, hey, everyone. Long time, no see. This story has been written for a really, really, really long time. The last episode to air when it was written was Chuck vs. The Beard in Season 3. Anyways, I don't remember entirely what the relationship status in this was, but I think Chuck and Sarah are together for real. I may have changed it to official after they got together on the show. I don't remember. This wasn't planned to be a one-shot but I figured it held up enough on its own and I haven't written anything else, so here it is. I guess it doesn't fit into the canon timeline. _

_DO YOURSELF A FAVOR and listen to these songs. I'm a music nerd, almost everything I write has music in it. Don't waste these playlists! Music is everywhere, so there's never an excuse for not being able to find good songs and/or artists. Now, as Big Mike would say, "Thus endith the lesson."_

_Sasquatch Festival is in Washington and it has awesome lineups every year. It's at The Gorge, and it's a totally outside venue surrounded by nature._

* * *

><p><span>Chuck vs. The Sasquatch!<span>

It was Chuck's birthday. Meaning it was also the anniversary of the Intersect in his head. Meaning it was also the day before the anniversary of when Chuck and Sarah first met. Meaning: today was a big day. Chuck always restrained from mentioning this to anyone, for fear of sounding too expectant of people. The lack of acknowledgement by him made it even more important to Sarah that she did something for him. He would know it was no one's persuasion that caused it, and was merely born from her appreciation of him. In her hands were four tickets. Sarah had planned this for over a month and was hoping he'd like the surprise. A dull ache resonated in her chest at the resemblance of the Prague situation, her showing up with tickets only to find she would be going it alone. She and Chuck had worked hard to steadily build their relationship back to something worth smiling about, so it was only a dull pain instead of the former, holy-shit-I can't-breath-is-there-a-dagger-twisting-into-my-heart-right-now? pain that it once was. For the first time in a long time, she could genuinely say that she was happy. That was the affect of loving him.

Knocking on the door to Chuck and Morgan's apartment, she waited patiently until the simulated shooting noises ceased to exist and hurried footsteps neared her location. She had to readjust her gaze downwards, as she had expected the taller resident to open it.

"Hey, Sarah," Morgan said. "Come on in. I think Chuck's in the shower, but I'm sure he'd make room for his lady."

Sarah blushed when he winked at her and she stepped inside. "Um, that's okay, Morgan. I'll just wait." Sarah clasped her hands together and looked at the paused game on the T.V. screen. "New game?"

Morgan's eyes flickered with interest. "Yeah, yes, it's awesome, but this layout is killing me tactically, you know? Probably not, actually," he said.

"Actually," Sarah said, making up a cover story on the spot so as to escape boredom, "my father was kind of a war buff. I picked up a lot of it after hearing him go over it for years. Can I see?"

Morgan's jaw dropped. "Chuck Bartowski is a god among men," he whispered to himself.

Chuck walked out of the bathroom fifteen minutes later with his brown curls dripping and a white towel around his waist.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Chuck had gotten used to Morgan's frustrated cries while trying to perfect the new game he had got. However, this exclamation was happy. Chuck poked his head around the corner to see a gelled faux hawk bouncing up and down next to those unmistakable blonde locks. With a suspicious eye, Chuck quietly padded over to right behind her on the couch.

"What's going on over here?"

The two turned and looked at the nearly naked man standing behind the couch. Sarah let her eyes drift over his bare chest, appreciating the sight. Morgan looked at Chuck, then at Sarah, and then back to Chuck. With a completely straight face he said, "Charles Irving Bartowski, marry this woman before I do."

Chuck raised his eyebrows and looked at Sarah, who only shrugged. "What-What, ah, makes you say that?"

"Dude, Sarah just came up with an entire attack plan for this game. I'm kicking virtual ass thanks to her," the bearded one said as he shot at enemy agents on the screen.

Sarah stood up and walked around the couch to him. "Hi, sweetie," she greeted him before putting her palms on his bare chest and giving him a peck on the lips. "Can I steal you for a little bit?" Chuck nodded and she said goodbye to Morgan for the time being.

The two of them walked into Chuck's room and Sarah sat on the edge of his bed while he opened and closed his drawers grabbing different articles of clothing. She picked up the framed picture of them in Palm Springs where he's kissing her cheek and she smiled and put it back down.

"So what's up?" Chuck pulled on a black t-shirt over his head and then stepped into his boxers without removing the towel.

"I wanted to give you your birthday, slash Intersect anniversary, slash our anniversary gift," she said before rifling through her purse for the tickets.

Chuck stepped into some basketball shorts and sat down next to her. "You didn't have to get me anything," he said, though she could tell he was touched.

"You always get me the perfect gift and I never know what to get for you." Sarah found the tickets and pulled them out. "But this time I nailed it. Here." She watched closely with anticipation as he opened the envelope and pulled out the tickets. Reading them, his expression visibly changed from confused to being absolutely ecstatic.

"You're taking me to the Sasquatch Festival?" he said incredulously. Sarah had a huge smile on her face. She couldn't remember ever giving anyone a gift before that they genuinely cared about and to whom she genuinely cared for.

"So how'd I do," she asked him.

"It's amazing, Sarah. You're amazing." In an act of sheer joy he leaned over and kissed her with gusto, his hands holding either side of her face. He then pulled back immediately and grinned at her. She was too flushed to notice anything and she had to blink a few times to catch herself up. "Thank you," he said excitedly.

Sarah licked her lips and breathed, "No problem."

"Woah," he said, sounding shocked as he looked closer at the tickets. "Are these… are these platinum tickets? Aren't there only like five platinum packages available?"

Sarah's eyes gleamed brighter when he noticed. "Four," she corrected him. "And I thought, as a very important person, you deserve to be treated as such," she said smiling. "And I _may_ have pulled a few strings… Let's just say I'm glad I didn't have to pay the full five thousand dollars. Even for you, that just wasn't happening."

Chuck's smile still hadn't waned one bit. "So I guess I should start packing, then, if our plane leaves in… three hours."

"Don't worry, I'll help you." Sarah stood up and headed for his closet.

"Wait!" he said, grabbing her wrist. She turned and looked at him. "I got you something."

Sarah laughed, "Chuck, why would you get me something?"

He just shrugged adorably and walked to his closet. "It's not much, but now's as good a time as ever. Although you did come up with a tough act to follow." Chuck pulled out a black sweatshirt and brought it over to her. Sarah took it and unfolded it. "It's a sleeper hoodie," he explained. "There are a hundred reasons I got you it, but look at all the cool things it does." Chuck pointed out the different features, including the thumb-holes, passport pocket, iPhone pocket with headphone-wiring capability, built-in eye shade in the hood, and Sarah's favorite: a removable inflatable neck pillow. In one pocket was a tiny plastic bag with earplugs, an eyeshade, and a travel toothbrush. "It's for traveling. And you do so much traveling and only have those small jackets; I thought it'd be perfect for you. And now you can use it for the plane. See? It even has that tiny little plane stitched into it over the pocket."

Sarah stopped his nervous rambling and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, I love it." Letting go, she kissed his cheek before unzipping it and putting it on. She zipped it up mid way and did a small twirl seeking his approval.

"It was made for you," he said light-heartedly. Sarah playfully flipped the hood up and posed, causing Chuck to laugh when the eyeshade dropped over her blue eyes.

Sarah laughed in her normal melodic tone. "I look like something out of your Star Wars movies!"

Chuck reached his arm out to his desk and held out the picture frame. "Oh, I think I'd know if you looked like this again," he said, showing her their Halloween picture. Eyeing him, she smiled and flipped her hood off.

"Yeah, you wish."

"Can you blame me?" Chuck was responded to by having a shirt thrown in his face.

"Get packed," she ordered him in a non-authoritative voice.

* * *

><p>After leaving the apartment and explaining to Morgan where they were going (Morgan then proposed to Sarah on the spot, to which she gracefully declined) they took a taxi to the airport. Arriving long before their plane was set to start boarding, Sarah took Chuck to the members lounge of which she belonged to. Chuck was thoroughly impressed. He was polite to the waiter that came to ask them if they had any drink requests, but when an attractive brunette woman in uniform and open cleavage with a nametag that said "Tiffany" offered Chuck a complimentary massage, Sarah put her foot down. Chuck looked at Sarah with his hands out silently asking about that situation, to which she told him, "If you need a massage so bad, I'll give you one." Chuck was more than okay with that as a trade-off.<p>

Boarding the plane, Chuck saw his share of Sigur Rós and Jane's Addiction shirts on fellow passengers, cluing him in to the fact that he and Sarah weren't the only ones with this idea. When they found their seats, Chuck put his and Sarah's bags in the overhead compartment and sat next to Sarah in the aisle seat. He was glad he had enough legroom, but what caused the wide smile on his face was what Sarah was doing next to him.

"Hi, baby," she said in a baby voice to the one-year-old sitting on his mother's lap next to her in the window seat. The little boy was staring up at her with wide eyes and reached out and gripped the string of her new hoodie with his tiny fingers. He pulled on it, bunching one side of her hood, which made Sarah laugh lightly. "How old is he?" she asked the woman. Fourteen months was the answer. People with babies for some reason always feel the need to ignore the fact that there is a word in the dictionary for twelve months. "He's beautiful," Sarah gushed. "What's his name?" Chuck looked on with delight as the secret agent fawned over the baby. "Hi, Brady!" she said after learning his name. "My name is Sarah, by the way," she said, introducing herself to the woman. Sarah then turned her head towards Chuck. "Chuck, look how cute he is!" Chuck had an amused expression on his face and he leaned over and waved at Brady. Brady giggled and struggled against his mother's hold on him to get closer to the two.

"I think he likes you," the mom said with a smile. "Do you want to hold him?" Sarah tore her gaze away from the baby to look at the woman with illuminated eyes. She nodded enthusiastically and the woman handed her son over to Sarah.

"Hi, little guy," she cooed. She held him up under his arms and bounced him on her knees, making his face light up in the process. Chuck smiled and outstretched his pointer finger, which Brady grasped hold of with surprising strength. With his free hand, Chuck covered his eyes and then pulled it away, saying, "Peekaboo!" The little boy squealed with laughter. Chuck then repeated this, eliciting the same reaction.

"Do you two have any kids?"

Chuck and Sarah both paused at the woman's question. Chuck thought he saw a glint of longing in her eyes coupled with the tiniest sad smile. "No," she said, "we don't."

"That's a shame," the woman said. "You're obviously great with them."

"Thank you," Sarah said. Her voice sounded like it had really meant a lot to her.

Not long after that, Sarah handed Brady back to his mom where he then fell asleep. The plane took off and Sarah snuggled into her gift from Chuck. She looked a little uncomfortable in the seat, so Chuck lifted the armrest that separated them and Sarah scooted over to rest her head on him. Chuck pulled his iPod out from his pocket and pinched the two headphones in between his fingers. He put one in his ear and offered the other to Sarah, which she took without a word. Scrolling through his library, he selected "Paris (Ambient Version)" by Friendly Fires while he made a quick On-The-Go playlist. It quickly became apparent that the song, while a daydream in itself, related somewhat closely to him and Sarah. A promise of a better life for just the two of them; one that, if the baby situation hadn't advertised on a huge "no shit" billboard already, Sarah wanted.

_One day, we're gonna live in Paris. I Promise… I'm on it..._

_And every night we'll watch the stars... They'll be out for us, they'll be out for us…_

Sarah reached out and laced her fingers with his during "Babylon" by Angus & Julia Stone. Later on, Chuck let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders in the middle of "Happy" by The Daylights, stroking her shoulder lightly up and down with his thumb. Sarah exhaled deeply and leaned closer into him.

_Only you can make me, only you can make me happy…_

Wilco's "You and I" was next, followed by "VCR" by The xx, and "Beauty's Running Wild" by Scars on 45. Sarah smiled when "Death" by White Lies started playing, considering how appropriate a song it was to listen to on a plane.

_I wonder what keeps us so high up. Could there be a love beneath these wings?…_

"What I'm Trying to Say" by Stars might as well have been Sarah's anthem, and she looked up at him knowing he was thinking the same thing. Without breaking the silence, Sarah took her finger and traced a small heart on his thigh.

_I am trying to say, what I want to say, without having to say, "I love you"…_

* * *

><p>"Wow."<p>

That was all Chuck could say when they walked into their room at the Cave B Inn. Sarah's mouth fell open when she saw the view they had of The Gorge. And the two-person jacuzzi didn't hurt either. In fact, as she looked around more carefully, this was an incredibly romantic set-up. Chuck inspected the wine bottle that sat on the table as Sarah put her stuff down.

"I still can't believe you did all this for me," he said gratefully. "You are some woman, Ms. Walker."

Sarah walked over to him and snaked her arms around his neck. "Happy birthday, Chuck."

When they fell asleep that night, Chuck was holding her to his side and she had her head on his chest. When they woke up, Sarah's nose was nuzzled into his neck and her smooth long leg had slid between his. Her ample chest was pressing against him at every intake, and Chuck could feel her fingers lazily playing with the curls at the base of his neck. He blushed a deep shade of red when he realized her inner thigh was resting directly against his unfortunate early riser. Probably not a coincidence once he thought about it. Sarah moaned and stretched out her legs, pressing harder against him when her muscles flexed. Chuck had to suppress a pleasure-induced growl. "Morning, Chuck," she purred. Sarah paused and felt the stiff object pressed into her. Chuck froze and the color in his face drained, dreading what would happen. She looked down and laughed silently, "Morning, Little Chuck." Chuck was speechless. That wasn't the reaction he was expecting. A crooked smile creeping on his face, he mumbled back, "Who are you calling "little," Agent Walker?" He moved out from under her and flipped them both over. She looked like an angel with her golden hair splayed out around her face as she met his gaze unwaveringly. Her eyes flickered between his brown eyes and his soft lips as she contemplated what to do next. "Pardon the mistake," she said in a smoky voice. "Why don't you refresh my memory?"

Chuck looked at her for a while, until he saw her lips part and her neck crane upwards towards his mouth. It took every ounce of willpower to withdraw from their precarious position, and he responded to her hurt look by saying, "I'm afraid that if I kiss you we'll be here all day." Sarah sighed and knew he was right.

"Fine. But hold on to that feeling, because when we get back, I think it's time I become acquainted with More Than Average Chuck." Sarah smirked at him. "Better?"

"Getting there." Sarah cocked an eyebrow at him, still knowing he wasn't exactly exaggerating.

She patted him on the arm and looking up into his eyes, said, "Go take your cold shower. Maybe you can back up that statement later."

"You wish."

With an innocent voice she said, "Can you blame me?" before she winked at him coyly.

"Touché," he said as he got out of bed and walked to their bathroom.

* * *

><p>"So who's up first?"<p>

Sarah and Chuck were walking through the grassy fields of The Gorge, weaving in between crazy shirtless men and "woo!"-ing college girls. They both fit in fine with the crowd: Sarah with her cut-off jean shorts, powder blue tank top, and aviators; and Chuck with his khaki shorts and white v-neck t-shirt, also with aviators on.

Chuck pulled out the schedule from his pocket and looked. "Let's see…" Chuck read off, "Passion Pit, Animal Collective, Ra Ra Riot." Chuck saw the blank face she had on. "You'll like the last one. Come on, let's go find a good spot."

Sarah stopped him and smiled. "Platinum tickets, remember? We have the box suite. I think we can even go to the VIP section next to the stage if we want."

"How about for now we check out the box suite and we can try the VIP later?" Sarah nodded her approval and followed Chuck to the suite. "You looking forward to any bands?" he asked her as they walked.

"A few," she hinted. "I really like Kings of Leon."

Chuck was about to ask her about the other bands she liked when he heard someone yell, "Heads up!" Turning, he saw a soccer ball beaming towards Sarah's head and instantly flashed. Instinctively, he shuffled on his toes over a couple steps and launched himself into the air by pushing off his left leg and leaping right. His body moved through the air in an arc as he stretched his hands out to grasp it, forming a triangle between his hands as he caught the top of the ball. On his downward arc, he landed against the ground with the ball hitting first and absorbing most of the impact, followed by the outside of his right shoulder and thigh. He kept one hand firmly on top of the ball, and the other firmly behind it, pressing it into the ground and essentially trapping it. His left leg was stiff and bent in the air, protecting himself from anyone moving towards him, though no one was. Kicking that leg up and out, he used the momentum to propel himself up off the ground without letting go of the ball. Sarah and the rest of the surrounding people watched in awe as he performed a perfect extension dive out of nowhere. Chuck stood and with a sling throw, sent the ball back to the guy who had yelled the warning.

Sarah walked up to him, trying not to acknowledge everyone staring at him and picked off a few pieces of grass that had stuck on his shoulder. "Thank you," she whispered as he calmed down from the flash.

Chuck looked at her confused. "How'd you-?"

"The only thing that would make you flash that fast would be if it was going to hit me," she reasoned, cutting him off. Noticing that no one had redirected their attention, Sarah stood on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on him, playing the part of the grateful damsel no-longer-in distress. She started leading him away from the crowd, but three twenty-year-old girls ran up to Chuck.

"Oh my god, that was crazy! We totally got that on video. Do you think we could get a picture with you?" Sarah's eyes widened when she heard there was a video of Chuck. Using the Intersect. That would likely end up on the Internet.

Chuck was about to decline, when Sarah cut in, "I could take it for you!" The girls were happy to hand their camera over to Sarah for the picture and Chuck was whisked off to pose with them. "Smile," Sarah sang obnoxiously at Chuck before taking the picture. She then looked down and frowned. "It didn't come out," she lied. "Let me take another." Then, pretending to delete the bad photo, she instead went through their videos and deleted the one of Chuck.

After taking the second perfectly fine photo, the girls went back to their group of friends and Sarah walked over to Chuck.

"Why?" he asked rhetorically.

Sarah just smirked and led them to the suite. "Relax. I just saved you from being chewed out by Beckman for getting the Intersect on YouTube and becoming an Internet star. And by chewed out, I mean terminated."

"Oh," he said in a high-pitched voice. "Thank you."

"Yeah," she said mocking him, "You're welcome."

* * *

><p>Chuck found it difficult deciding where to direct his attention, the crazy hair of the lead singer of Boston native Passion Pit, or the woman sitting next to him. It went back and forth like that until "Sleepyhead" ended and they moved off the stage so that Animal Collective could set up. During their first song, Sarah leaned over and yelled over the noise into his ear, "So is this as good as you thought it would be?" Chuck smiled and changed his head's position to say back, "Better!" They both smiled widely at each other before turning back to watch the band.<p>

Halfway through the set, Sarah told him she was going to go find a restroom. Chuck stood up so she could pass by him and watched her leave, as did the rest of the guys within eyeshot. When she turned the corner, he sat back in his seat and watched the concert. A few minutes later his phone vibrated and he pulled it out of his pocket.

It was a text from Sarah.

Sarah:_ This line has more people in it than Casey has war documentaries. Try not to miss me too much x_

Chuck laughed – silently, since he was sitting alone and didn't want to frighten anyone – and texted her back.

You:_ Impossible. And if you don't come back soon I think a few of the guys here will start up a search party for 'that hot blonde chick.' _

He waited for her to respond and smirked when she did.

Sarah:_ Ha ha. Just try not to flash ok? No Lester kung fu incidents while I'm gone._

You:_ No promises._

She was far enough away that he decided it was only slightly hazardous to toy with her, instead of the usual instant death.

Sarah:_ Chuck…_

You:_ Kidding. _

You:_ Kind of._

Sarah: _Now I can pass the time thinking up elaborate punishments for you…_

Chuck read this over several times before getting up the nerve to respond.

You: _Looking forward to it._

His visage was motionless as he waited for her reaction.

Sarah:_ ;o)_

The megawatt Bartowski smile spread across his face and he texted her back again.

You: _If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were flirting with me, Ms. Walker. Tsk tsk._

Sarah: _Uh oh. I guess this punishment is going to have to go both ways now… _

You: _What a shame. And here I thought we'd be having some good clean fun tonight._

Sarah: _Well_ _in our line of work we need to be able to improvise..._

Chuck was busy daydreaming about all the improvisations they'd be enjoying together when the phone vibrated a second time.

Sarah:_ End of line, finally. Thanks for the entertainment. Don't worry, I'll return the favor later x_

Chuck shook his head and smiled, sliding his phone back into his pocket. He then stood up and walked to the back of the suite for another beer. Reaching into the cooler, Chuck grabbed one bottle but accidentally took the one another hand was reaching in to get. "Oh, my bad," he apologized. It wasn't until he saw just who the hand belonged to. Chuck flashed for a few seconds and was surprisingly relieved that the Intersect for once flashed on nothing bad, and then he saw the rest of the men with him. "Holy crap," Chuck said. "…You guys are the Kings of Leon!"

"What's up, man," Caleb Followhill said, nodding to him and grabbing a different bottle. One of the men behind him held up the beer he had taken.

"Hope you don't mind," Jared Followhill said. "Our bus ran out. We thought we'd hit up the suite instead."

The long-haired one, Nathan, leaned forward towards Chuck. "Hey, you guys wouldn't happen to have Internet connection anywhere here would you? My laptop quit on me and I've been going a little stir crazy."

Chuck stuttered out, "No, uh, I don't think so. But, if you want, I could take a look at it. I'm actually a Nerd Herder for Buy More."

"Serious? Would you mind?"

"Unfortunately, it's the truth," Chuck said. "But yeah, lead the way." Chuck paused and looked around to see if Sarah was anywhere in sight. When he didn't find her he sent her another text.

You: _I've got to go find the men's room. Might get lost. Can you donate the search party formed for you in the event that I do? _

Sarah: _No promises._

"I'm Chuck," he said, sticking his hand out to shake Nathan's.

"Nathan," he replied. "This is my cousin Caleb and my brothers Matthew and Jared."

Chuck didn't want to leave Sarah alone for too long, so he picked up the pace. When they finally reached their trailer, he hurried inside and started inspecting the laptop that had been handed to him.

Caleb sat at their table booth and looked on. "So how'd a Buy More Nerd Herder get box tickets to 'Squatch?"

"Actually, my girlfriend surprised me with the tickets," Chuck said, visibly lighting up at the thought of her.

"Girlfriend? How long's that been going on? The best gift I ever got from a girlfriend should not be mentioned around young ears, if you catch my drift." Chuck wasn't sure which one of them had spoken, but he laughed nonetheless.

"Sarah…" Chuck smiled thoughtfully. "…Sarah and I have been together for three years."

Someone whistled a long note. "Well I wouldn't let her get away if I were you, Chuck. Anyone who'll do something like this for you is worth keeping around."

"Trust me, you don't have to tell me twice." Chuck then reached in his back pocket for his wallet where he kept a mini screwdriver. Opening it and digging out the tool, a piece of paper slipped out and fell on the floor.

Matthew leaned down to pick it up and his eyes widened. "Is this her? Sarah?"

The guys grabbed at it to see and all four's eyebrows rose. It was a photo of Sarah kissing his cheek with her arm around his neck at the beach in nothing but a black bikini as the ocean breeze pushed her hair into her face. "Not bad for a Nerd Herder," Nathan joked.

Chuck calmly snatched the photo out of Jared's hand and stuffed it back in his wallet. "Thanks," he said, "I get that more than you'd think," before focusing back on the laptop. Chuck unscrewed the bottom part of the laptop and looked inside.

"So if she surprised you with all this…" Matthew said, "…What are you going to do for her?"

Chuck stuck the screwdriver in his teeth as he furrowed his brow in concentration. "Well," he said, "That depends on you."

The guys looked around at each other. "How does that depend on us?" Jared asked.

Chuck looked up at Nathan and said, "I just figured out how to fix your laptop. And I'll do it right now, for free, but you're going to have to do something for me in return…"

* * *

><p>"Good thing I didn't hold my breath," Sarah said when he sat down next to her. "I was almost about to send the search party to go get you."<p>

"Yeah, sorry about that," he sighed dramatically. "These girls just would _not_ leave me alone. I mean they were coming in at every direction to get their hands on me!"

Sarah dropped her head to the side with a harsh glare at him. Chuck smirked and leaned over to kiss her cheek. She smiled shyly and avoiding his gaze, nonchalantly asked, "So then how come you're not with them right now?"

"None of them were you."

Sarah tried to hide the blush that crept on her face, but Chuck saw straight through her. It was then that Ra Ra Riot took the stage, which was made even more apparent by the cheers of the crowd.

"We're Ra Ra Riot and this one's called, "Can You Tell"," the singer, Wes Miles, said into the microphone. The band started playing and the lyrics boomed through the speakers.

_Oh have I been too discrete? How long am I supposed to wait? I think about you nightly. Oh can you tell I'm losing sleep?_

"Well, I'm glad I have you," she told him with bright eyes.

"Yeah me, too…" Chuck said in a light voice as he smiled at her and took her hand in his. Sarah looked down at their clasped hands. He squeezed hers tighter and said, "…We're better as a team."

* * *

><p>"Oreo, cookie dough, rocky road, strawberry, mint chocolate chip," Sarah said when The Decemberists ended with "Sleepless."<p>

Chuck turned to look at her and said, "What?"

"Your top five favorite ice cream flavors in descending order," she stated obviously.

Chuck blinked several times. "…Why?"

"Back when we were strictly cover dating," she said, "Like, _way_ back. We had a cover date where we played that game about how well you know a person. Morgan listed your favorite ice cream flavors in descending order and I remember thinking that I would never ever know that much about you. About anyone." She laughed and motioned towards the crowd of people surrounded by the backdrop of mountains and water. "And now… Look at me, Chuck, I'm in Seattle at a music festival with you. And it was _my_ idea! Did you ever imagine this ending up this way in a billion years?"

"I'm still kind of trying to wrap my head around it," he laughed. "I'd ask you how you got the clearance, but I like not knowing. It's more… euphoric, I guess. Just knowing that we're here. Not why or how."

Sarah stopped him from saying anything more when she leaned forward and kissed him. It wasn't an urgent kiss but it just felt right to be doing it. It was over as quick as it had started and left Chuck not knowing what to think. "What was that for?"

Sarah looked shy and a little nervous. "What, now I need a reason to kiss you?"

"Of course not," he said as he pushed her hair back with his fingers, "I was just wondering if there was one."

"Nope. No reason," she said lightly shaking her head and looking away. Chuck leaned back and smiled. "…What?" she said pointedly when she noticed how he was looking at her.

"Come on," he said, taking her hand and standing up. Sarah followed him without hesitation despite her questions about where he was taking her. It had gotten pretty dark outside as the day came to an end. Lights reflected off the water and the stars came out above. Sarah looked up and sighed wistfully.

"I forgot what it's like looking up at the stars."

"Los Angeles will do that to you," Chuck said to her. "It's nice getting away every once in a while."

"Yeah," she agreed, "It is, isn't it?"

"Be honest with me, Sarah," he said after they walked for a while. She turned and looked at him, hoping with everything she had that she could. "Are we ever going to get to do something like this again?"

Sarah hated not being able to make an empty promise to her boyfriend just because the sky's the limit and that's what happy people do. She was happy, the happiest in recent memory, but she was also a spy and so was he. So instead of an upbeat, _"Of course we will!"_ it had to be, "I don't know, Chuck. Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe… maybe not for a while."

She regretted bringing the mood down, but to her surprise Chuck just smiled and said, "Well then we'd better make this one count."

They had to weave through more and more people the farther they walked, and it was clear they were heading towards the stage. Sarah got a spark in her stomach and was surprisingly excited. The current band was on their last song and Sarah didn't know who was next, so she just held on to Chuck as he led her through the crowd. She shivered when his hand firmly rested on the small of her back, guiding her forwards. When the crowd got so thick that Chuck had to manhandle his way through, he grabbed onto Sarah's hand tightly and walked in front of her.

"Chuck, what are you doing?"

"We're going onto the stage."

"_What?_ We can't do that!"

"Just wait."

When they reached the stage and a large building of a man wearing sunglasses (at night) stepped in front of them, Chuck turned to Sarah and whispered in her ear, "What's our alias?" Sarah slid her left hand into Chuck's back pocket, which startled the crap out of him. She pretended not to notice and said to the man, "Chuck and Sarah Carmichael." The man checked his clipboard that looked like a graham cracker in his hand and nodded, stepping aside. Chuck had been caught off guard by the name. Not his name, but _hers_. Since when was their fallback cover as a married couple? She was avoiding eye contact with him, but her hand was still basically on his ass. He could tell Sarah was really trying hard to put herself out there for him, so instead of being a jerk and making her feel nervous he decided to wrap his arm around her shoulders and go on as if nothing had changed.

"I feel kind of bad," he said into her ear. Sarah's heart dropped and she whipped her head around. He saw that tiny off-centered crease between her eyebrows and he smiled comfortingly and rubbed it away it with his thumb. "I look like the worst husband ever if my wife doesn't even have a ring." Sarah's mouth opened and it looked like she was about to say something but was smiling instead.

"That's why I hid my hand when I said it," she told him. "They're back at the room, but I couldn't find the right time to tell you. I didn't know how you'd react."

"Are you kidding?" He laughed excitedly and said, "Didn't I say I'd be the happiest guy in the world?"

Sarah couldn't wipe the smile off her face, and Chuck was reveling in the fact that she still hadn't made any attempt at removing her hand.

"So how come you brought me here?" she asked him as the next band's crew was setting up.

Chuck only smirked and said, "You'll see."

Sarah raised her eyebrows and finally took her hand out of his pocket. Chuck's face was immediately consumed with distress, but Sarah just stepped in front of him and leaned her back against his chest. Chuck wrapped his arms around her chest and she placed her hands on his forearms. They stood like that as they waited for the next band to come up.

If they weren't standing to the side of the stage, Sarah would have recognized the band's initials from the bass of the drum kit. They were, though, so it wasn't until the spotlights came on and the band members approached the stage from the other side that she recognized them. Chuck smiled big when he felt Sarah's grip tighten on his arms. Without any introduction, and a crowd causing riptides in the stream behind them from the noise they were emitting, Kings of Leon jumped straight into playing.

Chuck rested his chin on the top of her head. Once they finished playing "Revelry" Sarah turned around in Chuck's arms. "You," she said with her hands on his shoulders, "are by _far_ the best cover husband I have ever had."

"Thank you, I appreciate that," Chuck responded. "You're not half bad, yourself." Sarah held a genuine smile on her face and she gazed at him with something looking suspiciously like adoration. Chuck sighed dramatically, "_But_, if you think that's good, you haven't seen anything yet." Her eyes turned quizzical. Chuck smiled and pointed behind her to the main stage. They landed on the lead singer, who looked their way and nodded to Chuck. Chuck nodded back.

"This next song is dedicated to Sarah. …Love, Chuck," Caleb said into the microphone. The crowd ahwed, some drunken guys booed, and Sarah couldn't bring herself to shut her mouth. Chuck smiled as her eyes widened beyond belief.

"_I've been roaming around always looking down at all I see…"_

"You didn't," she said in pure amazement over the noise.

Chuck shrugged unapologetically. "I did."

"…_You know that I could use somebody…"_

Sarah shook her head, staring into his brown eyes. Where did this man come from?

"…_You know that I could use somebody…"_

Suddenly she kissed him hard, inviting him to part his lips with her eager tongue. Her fingers ran upwards through his hair and curled into it, her eyes shut tight. Chuck didn't hold back, and put one hand on the side of her face while the other caressed her back as it arched into him.

"…_Someone like you."_

* * *

><p><em>Thanks for reading. Let me know if I should write more. The festival is technically four days long... Reviews make me smile.<em>


End file.
